LaBradford Franklin wore No. 3 for San Diego State last season, and he says he keeps getting texts and calls from people wondering “what happened to No. 3 because the guy who has No. 3 doesn’t look like you.”

Angelo Chol, sitting out this season after transferring from Arizona, is No. 3 on SDSU’s roster now. He’s 6-foot-9, 225 pounds with a full head of dreadlocks. Franklin is 6-2, 175 with short hair.

Franklin left the team last December due to undisclosed “family matters” and announced he was transferring in June. His destination: Cal State Fullerton, although he is not officially part of the program yet and NCAA rules prevent Coach Dedrique Taylor from discussing his status.

Franklin said he is taking online classes through Fullerton and can begin practicing with the team once he has meet eligibility requirements, ideally by the spring semester. The plan is to sit out this season and play for Fullerton in 2014-15.

Technically, Franklin began his junior season at SDSU, logging a total of 20 minutes in three games. He left the team before the second semester and successfully petitioned the NCAA to retain that season of eligibility, leaving him with two.

Taylor is in his first year at Fullerton after serving as an assistant at Arizona State, where he recruited Franklin out of high school. “Once he heard that I was transferring,” Franklin said, “he got in contact with me.”

Franklin watched his former team play Arizona on TV last week and still keeps in touch with his teammates.

“I don’t have any regrets about making this decision,” Franklin said. “I’ve grown from it and matured in a lot of areas. I do miss San Diego State because that was my home for two years and I made a lot of friends there. But this might be a better opportunity for me and my family. I think it will be a positive move in the end.”

Thursday traffic

There were empty seats in soldout Viejas Arena at tipoff last Thursday for the blockbuster game against Arizona, not because people didn’t use their tickets but because they couldn’t. They were still trying to park.

A perfect storm of circumstances created a traffic nightmare in and around the campus, with reports that it took upwards of an hour to park after exiting the freeway, which, it turned out, was jammed as well due to a series of accidents.

There also was an accident on campus. And an inordinate number of fans who opted to take Montezuma Road instead of Canyon Crest Drive. And more cars than anticipated left over in parking garages from the afternoon. And a crush of students trying to get to Thursday night classses.

“It was a full moon without it being a full moon,” said Debbie Richeson, the director of auxiliary services for university police. “There were a lot of dynamics going on.”

Tuesdays and Thursdays are worse for Viejas events because of a heavier schedule of night classes, but the Aztecs typically play on Wednesday and Saturday during the Mountain West season. A half-dozen games are during the semester break, too.

But there are two Tuesday night games in February: Utah State (Feb. 18) and San Jose State (Feb. 25). Both are 8 p.m. tips, which helps some. And Richeson’s office is already making changes for future weekday games, closing parking garages earlier to free more spaces.

“We are certainly taking precautions so it doesn’t happen again,” Richeson said. “But I’d encourage people to take alternate routes to campus, and to come earlier. They just have to anticipate that there is going to be traffic.”

Injury update

Not a good injury day for the Aztecs. Matt Shrigley spent practice riding a stationary bike as he continues to rehabilitate the ankle he sprained in the final seconds against Arizona. He remains questionable for Wednesday’s game against NAIA San Diego Christian.

Then James Johnson hobbled off with a toe injury late in practice. A few minutes after that, freshman guard D’Erryl Williams landed on someone’s foot and rolled his ankle.

Arizona rewind

After a few days to digest the 69-60 loss to Arizona (which moved up to No. 5 in the Associated Press poll), Coach Steve Fisher saw two glaring issues. One was not making the extra pass often enough. The other was rebounding, where Arizona had a 19-8 advantage in the first half.

“If I’m real honest with you, watching it live I didn’t think we got beat (on the boards) as badly as I did watching it on tape,” Fisher said. “We were just in survival mode from keeping them from getting it. I’m disappointed in that. I felt we would rebound the ball better.”